Newspaper delivery tube



May 26, 1964 M. M. FIBUS 3,134,538

NEWSPAPER DELIVERY TUBE Filed Sept. 13, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. FIG 2 5 MURRAY M. FIBUS ATTORNEY May 26, 1964 M. M. FIBUS 3,134,538

NEWSPAPER DELIVERY TUBE Filed Sept. 13, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I3 14 10 IO MURRAY M. FIBUS ii FIG.5 W

AT TORNE Y I: IN VENTOR.

United States Patent C 3,134,533 NEWSPAPER DELIVERY TUBE Murray M. Fibus, 190 N. Meridian, Youngstown, ()hio Filed Sept. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 223,450 1 Claim. (Cl. 232-17) This invention relates to an improved newspaper delivery tube or receptacle.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a newspaper tube or receptacle that will protect a newspaper placed therein from rain, snow, wind or other weather conditions and at the same time provide a pleasing appearance.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a newspaper delivery tube which provides integral means for receiving and holding m envelope in which the account card and the customers payment may be positioned and held for removal by the newspaper delivery boy.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a newspaper delivery tube in which a novel bottom wall configuration is provided to elevate the newspaper with respect to the bottom and to provide drainage from said bottom and to prevent water from re-entering said drainage providing means.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a newspaper delivery tube having a transparent rear end portion or window so as to enable a householder to determine visually whether or not a paper has been positioned in the tube.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a newspaper delivery tube formed in a single mold operation of a suitable synthetic resin or plastic material that will withstand extremes of temperature and which will not require repainting or redecorating and which will have an increased life expectancy.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a newspaper delivery tube that may be molded in an injection mold cavity or cavities and withdrawn therefrom in a single piece.

The newspaper delivery tube disclosed herein comprises an improvement in the art relating to such tubes which have generally heretofore been made of metal. Such metal tubes have been finished with various paints and enamels and frequently decorated with the name or the masthead of the newspaper which supplies the tube and whose newspaper is delivered therein.

It is well known in the art that such metal tubes while Widely used have been subject to rather rapid deterioration inasmuch as they are positioned by the roadside and thereby subject to all types of weather, as well as to salt spray from snow and ice melting treatments applied to the roadway. It is, therefore, a prime object of the invention to provide a newspaper tube which will be resistant to all such conditions that cause deterioration in the metal tubes as heretofore generally used and at the same time provide a tube which can be economically formed and inexpensively acquired by the newspapers and positioned along the various rural newspaper delivery routes.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appeu as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being the intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invent on.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a newspaper delivery tube.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section on line 2--2 of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a bottom view of the tube seen in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5 of FIG- URE 2.

By referring to the drawings and FIGURES 1 and 2 in particular, it will be seen that the newspaper tube comprises an integral body member of substantially rectangular cross section defining a housing in which a rolled or folded newspaper may be positioned so as to be protected from the weather. In FIGURE 1 the body member is generally indicated by the numeral 10 and it will be observed that its top is formed in two vertically separated planes while being integrally connected. The first of these 11 comprises the rear portion of the tube and as may be seen in FIGURE 2 inclines rearwardly. The forward or second section is indicated by the numeral 12 and is elevated relative thereto and while it inclines rear- Wardly from its foremost end section it provides an increased height in the interior of the tube in which a pair of depending inturned oppositely disposed flanges 13 and 14 are positioned so as to form a pocket capable of receiving an envelope in which a newspaper account card and a customers payment may be temporarily positioned. The forward or front end of the tube is that shown at the extreme left in FIGURES 1 and 2, and it will be observed that it is formed at an inclination from vertical and defined by a rib 15 which lends strength to the plastic material of which the tube body is formed. The bottom 16 of the tube on its inner surface has a pair of parallel longitudinally extending ribs 17, 17 which act to support a newspaper positioned in the tube in elevated relation to the bottom and the bottom is also provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced longitudinally extending slots 18, 13 which are provided on the bottom lower surface with depending flanges 19, 19 which will prevent water on the bottom of the tube from running back up into the slots 18. There are also a plurality of circular drainage apertures 20, ill each of which has an annular depending flange 21, 21 thereabout for the same purpose and between the inner opposed ends of the longitudinal slots 18 and the innermost opposed pairs of the apertures 20, 20, there is a depending thickened boss-like section 22 which has a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs 23, 23 formed integrally therewith, together with a central aperture 24 and a plurality of radially spaced circumferentially positioned smaller secondary apertures 25, 25 through which fasteners such as bolts are adapted to be positioned as shown in FIGURE 2 of the drawings and indicated by the numerals 26, 26. The illustration in FIGURES l and 2 of the drawings shows an L-shaped metal bracket in broken lines indicated by the numeral 27 by which the newspaper tube is secured to a metal stake as is customary in the art and which bracket forms no particular part of the present invention as it has been generally used for this purpose with metal tubes as known in the art. The side Walls which are vertical of the newspaper delivery tube and as best seen in FIGURE 5 of the drawings will be observed to have a degree of inclination from front to back in some degree comparable with the degree of inclination of the top portions 11 and 12 heretofore referred to so that the device may be successfully molded. The rear end of the tube, the part shown in the extreme right in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, as well as in FIGURES 3 and 4 thereof, is open in its original molded form and the tube may be so used. In a preferred form of the invention, the open rear end of the tube is provided with an inset cemented transparent window 28 which extends from a point adjacent the top portion 11 to a point adjacent the bottom 16 of the tube. Thus, the contents of tube may be determined by visual inspection from the rear thereof which enables the householder to determine whether the paper has been delivered or not without walking out to the road and looking into the front end of the tube. The plurality of ribs 23 serve to provide an effective ventilated contact between the metal bracket 27 and the boss 22 which forms the mounting bracket on the newspaper delivery tube and thereby prevents the accumulation of water thereunder which would otherwise tend to rust and deteriorate the metal bracket 27.

It will thus be seen that a one-piece newspaper delivery tube formed of molded plastic in the shape of an elongated hollow body member generally rectangular in cross section, open at one end, and provided with a transparent window at its other end, and a pocket in its upper portion has been disclosed which particularly is suitable for its purpose and that having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

A newspaper delivery' tube comprising a one-piece molded plastic elongated hollow body member generally rectangular in cross section and having side walls, top Walls and a bottom Wall, said body member being open at one end and provided with a window at its other end,

the said elongated hollow body member having an up-- wardly offset forward top portion and a pair of depending inturned flanges formed integrally therewith and defining a pocket for the reception of a fiat article adjacent the top portion of said tube, said side walls and top walls of said hollow member converging slightly from said open end toward said end having said window therein and said bottom of said elongated hollow body member having an integral depending portion centrally thereof on its outer surface to define a bracket mounting area, said bottom wall having a pair of longitudinally spacedlongitudinally extending drainage slots therein, downturned flanges around said drainage slots, spaced openings in said integral rectangular depending portion for attaching said tube to a supporting bracket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

